In scheduling appointments, an individual or an organization may use a variety of different devices (e.g., telephone, computer, etc.) and methods to request and schedule appointments. For example, a consumer may schedule an appointment using a telephone to request an appointment with a supplier of services, e.g., doctor, beautician, mechanic, attorney or provider of services, etc. Based on the supplier's availability, e.g., schedule, the requested appointment may be accepted or, alternatively, when the appointment time is unavailable, a different time can be suggested and accepted. This can be a cumbersome and costly process, particularly for the supplier. For example, the supplier may need a dedicated person for scheduling appointments thereby increasing overhead costs significantly.
Also, if a requested time is not available, then the consumer may have to contact another supplier, repeating this same process. As such, scheduling an appointment (e.g., a doctor's appointment) may be time consuming, requiring contacting more than one supplier before an appointment request is acceptable to all involved parties. This may thus include the cumbersome process of finding other suppliers within a certain geographical area, or a supplier that has an acceptable reputation or expertise, etc. To find such a supplier, the consumer may have to consult with insurance companies, friends, colleagues or a host of other avenues, all of which are time consuming and even at times frustrating.
Additionally, once an appointment is scheduled, changing the appointment time may be difficult. This includes, for example, contacting the supplier and requesting another appointment time which may or may not be available. Also, in many known arrangements, if the appointment is not canceled within a certain time period, a penalty may be charged to the consumer. This is typically termed a cancellation fee. So, it is imperative for the consumer to reschedule an appointment within a certain time frame, which is not always possible or even practical. For example, an emergency can arise within the certain time period. In this scenario, there may be no way to avoid the cancellation fee.